The European Defence Agency (EDA) launched a new project on 13 January to improve the technology behind automatic targeting, as well as in threat recognition and identification, as European militaries seek to make soldiers and weapons systems more effective in battle. Led by Germany, the first phase of ATRIT will also bring together the contributing Member States of France, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland, as well as Norway. It will be carried out by a consortium led by Germany’s Rheinmetall and involves IABG, also of Germany, Safran and Thales of France, ISD SA of Greece, TNO and Thales of the Netherlands, Rheinmetall in Norway and PCO of Poland. Automatic target/threat recognition, identification and targeting for land systems (ATRIT) can help militaries in detecting, tracking, prioritising and selecting targets, whether off the top of a combat vehicle or from individual weapons. The technology cannot engage, however, without human command.
With a €2 million budget over 18 months, the EDA launch marks the first step in a series of ATRIT projects that eventually aim to develop and test physical demonstrators in relevant environments in a second phase. As a Category B project managed by EDA, the initiative is co-funded by Member States and additional participants can opt in. ATRIT in its first phase will seek to define the requirements and design the system architecture for an overarching, cross-platform capacity to allocate military targets and enhance detection and to identify threats, including on the basis of behaviour. The new, improved software will not only have the capacity to better identify and enable automatic targeting. ATRIT analysis in the first phase will be based on the following modules: human behaviour; 360-degree situation awareness; integration of fused sensor information; target allocation; presentation of fused data, including real-time sensor data, C4I and historical data.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) supports its 26 Member States in improving their defence capabilities through European cooperation. Acting as an enabler and facilitator for Ministries of Defence willing to engage in collaborative capability projects, the Agency has become the ‘hub’ for European defence cooperation with expertise and networks allowing it to the whole spectrum of defence capabilities. The European Defence Agency (EDA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The EDA is headed by the High Representative (HR/VP), and reports to the Council. The EDA was established on 12 July 2004 and is based in the Kortenberg building in Brussels, Belgium, along with a number of other CSDP bodies. All EU member states take part in the agency except Denmark. The Danish parliament has adopted a proposal in favour of the country participating in the EDA.
